they defend you srom the Southern winds. }-;j|^
towards the North reverberating the rays of the
Sun, encrease the heat ; but at a pretty good di-
slance, ihcy are very delightful, l.ccausc the clear-
nel» of the Air, which is always screne in Inch a
situation, and the brightnessof the Sun, which it
always enjoys, is extremely chcarsul to the sight.
Hills to the call and so likewise to the well, will
make your mornings cold and the dews plentiful,
if they are near you : but both, if at somc tolera-
ble dillancc, are wonderfully plcasant. So too
Rivers and Lakes are inconvenient if too near
and afford no delight, if too far off: whereas
on the contrary, the Sea, if it is at a large
dislance, makes both your Air and Sun unhealthy ;
but when it is close to you, it does you less harm,
because then you have always an equality in your
air. Indeed there is this to be laid, that when
it is at a great dislance, it encreases the delire we
have to see it. There is a good deal too in the
point to which wc lie open to it : for if you are
exposed to the Sea towards the South, it seorches
you ; if towards the Eall, it insests you with
damps ; if to the West, it makes your air cloudy
and full of vapours ; and if to the North, it chills
you with exceilive cold. From the Court-yard
wc proceed to the Parlours, which must be con-
trived for different sealbns, some to be used in
Summer, others in Winter ; and others as we
may lay in the middle scasons. Parlours sor
Summer require water and the verdure of gar-
dens : those for Winter, must be warm and have
good fire-places. Both lliou'd be large, pleasant
and delicate. There are many Arguments to
convince us that Chimnies were in lise among the
Ancients ; but not silch as ours are now. One of
the Ancients says, the Tops of the Houses smokc,
Et sumati Culmina tcBi : and we find it continues
the same all over Italy to this day, except in
Lombard) and Tujcwy, and that the mouths of
none of the chimnies rise higher than the tops
of the houses. I'itriaius says that in Winter Par-
lours it is ridiculous to adorn the ceiling with
handsome painting, because it will be presently
spoilt by the constant smokc and continual fires ;
for which reason the Ancients used to paint those
Ceilings with black, that it might seem to be
done by the smoke itself. I find too that they
made lise of a purisied sort of wood, that
was quite clear of smoke, like our charcoal,
upon which account it was a dispute among the
Lawyers whether or no Coal was to come under
the denomination of Wood ; and therefore it
is probable they generally used moveable hearths